Featured Image Credit: ZSL/UK-CSIP
By: Sarah Sharkey
A young Risso dolphin recently washed up dead on a beach in Norfolk. The juvenile male seemed thin and showed no signs of feeding in its post-mortem autopsy. The lack of feeding was the most significant factor in the death of the animal, but there were some contributing factors that were caused by human trash.
The leader of the dissection, Rob Deaville, found the thumb of a black rubber glove inside the animal’s digestive tract. Deaville said “It hasn’t been a causal factor in the animal’s death. At the moment the poor nutritional condition is the most significant factor. It’s lost a lot of muscle mass. It’s actually pretty thin.”
It appeared that the dolphin died a slow and painful death after being stranded on the beach. The glove fragment was likely ingested closer to shore, but it did not help the dolphin in its fight to survive.
This Risso dolphin was stranded in an unusual location for this species of dolphin. Typically, these animals live in deeper waters far offshore, but the area it was stranded in was relatively shallow. The reasons why this dolphin stranded may be shrouded in mystery, but the presence of human trash in its digestive tract cannot be ignored. Too many animals are affected by our plastic human trash. Something needs to be done soon about this rising epidemic.
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